


Of Kisses and Orange Hawaiian Shirts

by pearlescent



Category: Stitchers (TV)
Genre: F/M, Multiple Pov
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-01
Updated: 2015-07-01
Packaged: 2018-04-07 02:33:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4246158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pearlescent/pseuds/pearlescent
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s not that Kirsten was suspicious of Cameron. Quite the opposite, she trusted Cameron Goodkin wholeheartedly, even if his cautiousness was a pain in the ass sometimes. So when Kirsten rummaged through Cameron’s room while he took a nap on the couch, she justified it as plain curiosity.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Kisses and Orange Hawaiian Shirts

**Author's Note:**

> The point of view is split between Cameron and Kirsten. Any "----" indicates a shift in POV.  
> It starts with Kirsten.

It’s not that Kirsten was suspicious of Cameron. Quite the opposite, she trusted Cameron Goodkin wholeheartedly, even if his cautiousness was a pain in the ass sometimes. So when Kirsten rummaged through Cameron’s room while he took a nap on the couch, she justified it as plain curiosity. She didn’t know what she would find or even what she was looking for, but something motivated her to learn more about Cameron. Understand him. 

Earlier that day, Kirsten suggested that he take some rest, especially since he came to the lab that morning with his signature ‘I-didn’t-get-much-sleep’ raccoon eyes. She expected him to argue back, but right after the stitch, he grabbed the keys off his desk and headed out. Out of habit, Kirsten hitched a ride with him but ensured that it would be okay for them to stop by his house for an hour or two. 

Once they finished their takeout pizza and Cameron was tucked into a blanket, “hobo sweater” on and contacts out, Kirsten dug through his belongings trying to find some remnants of Cameron that he did not already spill. Hidden beneath a stack of old textbooks laid a worn-out high school yearbook dating back a couple of years. Kirsten pulled it out from under the stack and climbed onto Cameron’s bed. After browsing through the first couple of pages, she flipped to the back few where the student index was. She laid her head down on Cameron’s pillows while tracing her finger down the list of names. 

Gonzales…. Goode…. Gooden…. Goodkin. Goodkin, Cameron. There it was. 

Kirsten grabbed a magazine off his side table and wedged it into the yearbook as a placeholder while she flipped to the first page number listed next to Cameron’s name. She almost couldn’t recognize him under the mop of curly brown hair and the obnoxiously orange hawaiian shirt, but when she focused in on the small Science Olympiad club and noticed the stormy green eyes and ever so goofy smile, she snorted and burst out laughing. She quickly threw a hand over her mouth but not before she heard a loud groan and a strained “Kirsten!!” cry out. 

“Go back to sleep!” Kirsten countered, while taking out her cell phone to take a picture of her coworker. She snickered as she opened the Stitchers group text and selected Cameron’s picture to be sent to all the employees at the lab, but she decided against it and sent it to just Linus and Camille. She went back to the index and tossed aside the magazine placeholder to find more pages with Cameron in them. She flipped to the next page right as she heard the shuffling of footsteps and looked up to see Cameron at the door squinting at Kirsten through his thick-rimmed glasses. 

She quickly rocked up to a sitting position and sheepishly put the yearbook behind her. Cameron furrowed his eyebrows at Kirsten and dragged himself towards the bed. “What were you doing?”

“Just some recon.” Kirsten quickly mumbled out. “Anyways, you should look at yourself in the mirror right now, and also wash your face.” Cameron stopped at the edge of the bed and glared at Kirsten. “What? You drool in your sleep.”

Cameron sighed and pulled his sleeve over his fist to rub at the corners of his mouth. “Why are you doing recon in my room? What could you possibly find?”

“I didn’t find anything, but whatever. Your phone is ringing by the way.” Kirsten took the moment while Cameron looked over at his phone to quickly shove the yearbook underneath his pillows. Kirsten slowly started to stand up when Cameron whipped his head back and scowled. 

“I know you just shoved something under my pillows. Don’t get smart with me, Tigger.” 

Kirsten let out a short laugh and leapt off the bed, grabbing her phone. She walked into the kitchen and downed a glass of water, waiting for Cameron to shriek. 

1… 2… “KIRSTEN!!” Cameron’s voice bellowed through the apartment. Kirsten settled into a bar stool as Cameron marched into the living room holding his high school yearbook high in the air. “Why? Ok, just why were you looking at this?”

“Recon.” Kirsten quipped.

“Reco- Recon??! Recon on what? My pathetic high school life?” Cameron shook his yearbook pointlessly before tossing it onto the floor and grabbing his phone, which was ringing with strings of incoming texts. Kirsten shrugged as he scrolled through his texts. “Kirsten,” he muttered darkly, looking down at his phone. 

“What?” Cameron walked over to Kirsten and placed his phone on the kitchen table. 

“Did you send Linus and Camille a picture of me?” He asked calmly. 

Kirsten clutched the phone in her hand and tried to prevent the corners of her lips from flicking up. “Maybe…” 

Cameron’s fists balled on the table. “You’re deleting that picture.” 

“You don’t give me orders.” Kirsten replied cheekily as she spun around and hopped off the bar stool. 

“Kirsten!!” Cameron swiped for the phone, but Kirsten quickly put her phone in the air. 

“I’m not deleting it!!” Kirsten ran to the other side of the room, laughing. 

Cameron pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose and sighed. “Are we really going to do this, Pork Chop?”

“I hate Pork Chop.” Kirsten retorted. 

Cameron glowered. “Pork. Chop.” He launched himself towards Kirsten. 

Kirsten ducked under Cameron’s swinging arms and ran to the opposite side of the room laughing brightly. “You’re not getting my phone, Slowpoke!” Cameron charged after Kirsten and ended up circling the kitchen table. 

“What are you even going to do with that picture?!” Cameron whined as he circled the table. 

“Blackmail. Can you imagine having this picture blown up under ‘Employee of the Month’?” Kirsten laughed and ran towards the couch to grab her bag. 

Cameron rushed out from behind the table and leapt futilely at Kirsten’s hand to get the phone. She whipped around and laughed “Too tall for you, midget?” 

Cameron grabbed Kirsten’s arm and shouted triumphantly. “Got i-FUCK!” One second, Cameron was sure he got Kirsten’s phone and the next, Kirsten was falling backwards onto the couch pulling Cameron onto her.

\----

Cameron quickly pushed himself up onto his arms and looked down at Kirsten, who still held the cell phone above her head. Kirsten’s head was nestled in between Cameron’s two palms, and he could feel her silky, soft hair beneath the pads of his fingertips and his heartbeat racing. Sudden realization dawned on him that the last time their faces were this close to each other was right before Kirsten had kissed him. A rosy blush erupted onto his cheeks, and Kirsten cocked an eyebrow up and slowly cracked a smile. 

Kirsten tilted her head to the side and rested it on one of Cameron’s hands. “Let’s make a deal, Hobbit.” The corners of her lips flickered. “I delete the picture, and you…” Kirsten glanced down towards her waist, “stop straddling me.” Cameron’s eyes widened, and he immediately rolled off of Kirsten and toppled to the floor. For the split second in which there was silence, Cameron wanted to shrivel up and disappear as he laid on the floor. But Kirsten tipped her head back and burst out laughing and snorted out some version of ‘dumbass,’ which made Cameron feel comfortable all over again. 

“I’m sorry.” Cameron stuttered out as he pulled himself up to a sitting position. “It’s your goddamn fault! I was a Science Olympiad kid, not an athlete. I have no coordination or control of my limbs!” Kirsten shushed him by tapping her phone on his lips. 

“Look.” She showed Cameron her phone screen and pressed the little trash can under his photograph. “There you go. Straight into the trash can, where you belong, you piece of garbage.”

“Not going to lie, I prefer Pork Chop over Garbage.” Cameron mumbled as he watched the compromising and downright, embarrassing picture delete. “You do know that my Science Olympiad team was top ranked in the nat-.”

“Cameron.” Kirsten silenced Cameron and cupped his face. Her fingers spread along his jawline and the tip of her thumb brushed across his lips. 

“Kirsten?” Cameron questioned, his lips bristling from the contact. He studied her eyes in confusion, and his jaw slowly went slack as he recognized hints of lust in her eyes. 

He unsteadily pushed himself up to his knees and leaned on the couch. “Are we really doing this? Is this really happening, Kitten?”

Kirsten laid her head back down onto the couch and took Cameron’s glasses off. “Why the hell not?” She placed the glasses on the side table and turned her attention back to him. 

He scratched the nape of his neck. “Are you absolutely sure? I mean, I don’t want to jump into anything that you’re not...” The words stumbled out of Cameron’s mouth, unsure and shaky. 

Kirsten reached over with her other hand and laced her fingers with Cameron’s to assure him that this was alright. “Cameron, I like you, you like me. We both know this.” 

Cameron looked at Kirsten disbelievingly. Of course there was that little fire of hope he harvested inside of him, hoping that Kirsten might like him. He always wondered, and maybe even wished, that the first kiss on that first day wasn’t 100% Peter Brandt kissing Julie Malarek. But that fire never grew too large for Cameron, even with all of Kirsten’s bravado and snark. Cameron knew he needed to keep a good head on his shoulders, and one which wouldn’t potentially ruin his 8 billion dollar, government-funded program. But in a couple of rowdy minutes and two sentences, Kirsten Clark threatened to light Cameron ablaze. 

“Okay so. Let me just clarify that you-” Cameron began to reiterate when his phone rang. “Shit, let me get that.” Kirsten groaned as Cameron mouthed, ‘Hasta la vista, baby.” He ended it with a cheesy wink and an overwhelming sense of regret when Kirsten rolled her eyes. 

\----

As the phone call progressed, Kirsten watched as Cameron’s face fell from its previous playful state to solemnity. “What’s wrong?” She mouthed at Cameron, but he just looked at her blankly, all previous traces of happiness wiped from his countenance. 

He placed his phone on the table and looked at Kirsten, with a blank expression. “It was Linus. Penny’s refractory period is up.”

Kirsten groaned. “Are you telling me that we have to go now? It’s been like 4 hours since I stitched into Penny.” 

“Yeah.” Cameron stood up and turned his back to Kirsten to grab his wallet and keys. 

“Let’s finish this up after the stitch.” Kirsten lamented. Cameron sighed in response and held the door open for Kirsten. 

The drive to the lab was silent. 

“Okay, so what else do we need to know about Penny before this stitch?” Maggie asked Linus as Kirsten settled into the Fish Tank. “This will be the last time Kirsten gets to stitch into Penny so we need to make it count.” 

“Penny’s parents didn’t approve of her boyfriend at all, but we can all obviously tell that Penny still loved him.” Linus placed his tablet on his desk and shrugged. “I would guess that she was snooping around and looking through all his old documents and belongings trying to confirm or deny if he was a bad guy or not.”

“Trying to get to know his past. Understand him.” Kirsten mumbled with the sudden realization behind her actions today. Kirsten glanced at Cameron, who had his eyes trained on Linus, stone-faced and with his arms crossed. 

“Yeah! And unfortunately for her, her parents were right and she ended up shot and dead.” Linus quipped. 

“Unfortunate.” Cameron muttered. He strode to his desk and put his headset on. “Ok, lights at 20%.”

\----

Kirsten didn’t ride home with Cameron after the second stitch. He offered, to dissolve the tension, but Kirsten refused politely, telling him that she would be joining Camille for dinner at some new Thai place. The stitch into Penny was a mess, and the hesitancy between the two caused Maggie to question Cameron’s competency multiple times. 

This wasn’t like the time Kirsten kissed him. Kirsten had no memory of that incident, making it awkward on only Cameron’s part. But this time, Kirsten only seemed to be partially affected by the residual emotion and continued to remember her confident confession of affection for Cameron. And worst of all Cameron didn’t know if the confession was of Penny’s or Kirsten’s. Kirsten might as well pretend to forget it ever happened because Cameron would definitely not be bold enough to ever ask.

Cameron sighed and turned the volume up on the radio to drown his thoughts. 

\----

Kirsten inhaled and closed her eyes, pressing her cellphone into her chest. It had been 2 days since she last stitched into Penny and 2 days since she saw Cameron. She exhaled and opened her eyes. She was going to call him and ask about that night. She definitely remembered some... questionable things. 

Kirsten pressed Cameron’s contact on her phone and waited impatiently for him to pick up. After the 5th ring, Kirsten realized it might be too late to call. She glanced over at the digital clock on the stovetop and chuckled, “oh shit.”

“Kirsten?” Cameron called out groggily. “It’s 3am, what’s happening?!”

“Hey, I just wanted to talk to you. But is this a bad time?” Kirsten replied cautiously. 

“Yea. It’s 3-friggin-am, but I’m also definitely awake now.” Cameron responded. 

Kirsten took a deep breath and started, “Okay, I want to talk about what happened in between my stitches into Penny. Because I remember some things I di-” 

“Kirsten.” Cameron stopped her from continuing. “I’m going to be the adult here and say that this conversation needs to wait until we’re face to face.” Kirsten huffed. “If we do this on the phone, it’s not going to do anything to dissolve the awkwardness when we actually get to see each other.” 

“Awkwardness? Grow up.” Kirsten retorted.

Cameron ignored her. “Lunch tomorrow?” 

“No, drive over right now.” 

“Kirsten, let me remind you that it is 3am.”

“I’ll see you in 10.” Kirsten hung up. 

\----

There were more reasons for how wrong this was than right, but that did not stop Cameron from leaping out of bed and grabbing his glasses and keys. As much as he hated himself for it, that little fire inside of him only burned stronger, even after the disappointment of residual emotion. 

Right as he pulled into Kirsten and Camille’s driveway, the door opened and Kirsten stepped out. She quickly locked the door and joined Cameron in the car. 

“Nice PJs” Kirsten remarked looking at Cameron’s fleece rocketship pajama bottoms.

“You don’t get to comment on my outfit when you dragged me out of bed and brought me here.” 

Kirsten shrugged, “It was your idea to do this in person. Now let’s talk.”

Cameron shifted his body to face Kirsten and studied her face. She was calm, collected, and seemed like she knew what she was doing. On the other hand, Cameron felt like his face was going to burn up any second. Why did he think that this was a good idea? “You know, I have the strangest inclination to get really drunk right now.” Cameron mumbled out. 

Kirsten cocked an eyebrow at him and sighed. “What happened that night?”

Cameron pressed his back against the car door and pulled up his legs onto the seat. “What do you remember?”

Kirsten’s lips pulled into a tight line and if there was a little more lighting outside Kirsten’s house, he could have sworn she was blushing. “Your disgusting orange hawaiian shirt.” She answered humorlessly. 

Cameron rocked his head back, pressing his palms into his face in embarrassment. “Of all things to remember, you remember that! Great! Just splendid!” He slid his hands off his face and clasped them. “You went through my stuff, probably residual of Penny being curious of her boyfriend’s past. And for some reason you thought it would be a good idea to send a picture of me with my Science Olympiad team to Linus and Camille.”

“Orange hawaiian shirt.” Kirsten mused.

“I swear, if you keep bringing that up.” He shook his head. “I demanded that you delete the picture, but you refused and made me chase you around the apartment trying to delete it. We uh... then we fell onto the couch.” Cameron shifted his eyes between the house and the sky, avoiding Kirsten’s gaze. 

\----

He looked nervous and it confirmed all of Kirsten’s suspicions. “Then what?” She asked as innocently as she could. 

“Oh… um… well then you just.” Cameron scratched the nape of his neck and inhaled. “I kinda fell on top of you and ended up straddling you. And then you made a move on me and confessed. Uh.” The words stumbled out of his mouth. 

Kirsten jaw went slack and she nodded slowly. 

“You, um, confessed that you liked me. And that it was obvious that we liked each other.” Cameron was most definitely blushing, and she could almost feel her own cheeks getting heated. “But then Linus called and I remembered you were just stitched into Penny. It was all residual.” He assured Kirsten.

Kirsten nodded rapidly in confirmation and looked down at her hands. She knew all of this, remembered all of it. Cameron was just confirming her suspicion that she wasn’t as affected by Penny’s residual emotion than she was letting on. If Penny’s emotions had taken over, Kirsten wouldn’t have remembered half of her actions that day and she wouldn’t be feeling her cheeks burn up in embarrassment. She felt a tiny spark flicker inside of her.

“Cameron?” Kirsten glanced up from her hands and saw that Cameron was watching her intently. “I’m just going to be really blunt, okay?”

Cameron sighed and smiled unconvincingly, “When were you ever not, Peach?” 

She took a deep breath and licked her dry lips. 

Kirsten was always the one taking risks, whether it be in a stitch or out on the field. Kirsten boldly acted out and Cameron would sometimes follow in suit; he was getting better at it. And so maybe it was time to let that curious spark inside of her ignite. Let it ignite and set her and everything around her ablaze. 

Maybe it was time for Cameron to follow her example. 

“Cameron, I think…” The corners of her lips flickered upwards as she inhaled. “I think you’re sitting too far away from me, right now.” 

\----

Cameron looked at Kirsten dumbfounded. His heart was beating faster than he had ever previously felt. “Did you just? Uh…”

\----

Cameron was obviously confused, but it pained her to clarify.

\----

“What do you mean ‘I’m sitting too far from you’? Does that mean?” Cameron clenched his teeth nervously, not wanting to mess whatever was happening. It had been 2 days since Kirsten had stitched into Penny. Whatever she was saying was 100% Kirsten, not Penny.

\----

Kirsten sighed irritably and crossed her arms, looking away. “Nothing. Just forget it.” This was a bad idea and she wanted to erase this entire conversation from his memory. Why did she even consider taking that risk. Cameron was too thick skulled and timid to ever follow up on thi- Kirsten’s thoughts were disrupted by a gentle hand sliding through her hair and warm lips pressed tentatively against Kirsten’s. 

\----

Cameron was kissing Kirsten. Oh god, he kissed Kirsten. 

\----

Kirsten pulled away and looked at Cameron with a sense of awe. “You just-”

“I should’ve asked. I’m sorry.” Cameron leaned back onto his seat and ran his fingers through his hair..

“No, no it felt…” Kirsten replied, placing her hand on his shoulder. “I'm fine, it was... good.”

Cameron looked at Kirsten intently, “Are we really doing this? Is this really happening, Kirsten?” Kirsten smiled, noting Cameron echoing his past uncertainties. 

Kirsten slid her hand down Cameron’s shoulders and fisted his white shirt. “Yea.” She slightly tugged him towards her, “Why the hell not?” 

She leaned forward to meet her lips with his and felt Cameron smile into the kiss. She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to feel. The trails of fire Cameron’s hands left on her skin, the warmth spreading through her chest, or the happiness radiating off of Cameron, if that was something you could even feel. 

If she did feel anything, she felt like this was right. This is how it was supposed to be, how all generations of giddy high school girls felt when their crush finally kissed them on the front porch. A ripple of thrill, gratification, and relief. It felt like all of that and more as Cameron pulled her onto him and kissed and held onto her with a tenderness that made her want to melt into his arms. 

And as Cameron kissed her, Kirsten realized that these emotions were always there. They were hiding under a pretense that her condition made her emotionless. Hiding from being hurt again, from being abandoned by her father and abandoned by anyone else who managed to make her feel. But as Cameron kissed her, she felt, once again, that this was very, very right.

Kirsten pulled away and rested her forehead on Cameron's. "Cameron?"

Cameron opened his eyes and pressed his lips onto the tip of her nose. "Yes, pumpkin?"

Kirsten softly chuckled. "I feel like this is right." 

Cameron reached up and pushed her hair to rest behind her ear. "I'm glad you do."

And then they were kissing again. Kirsten wasn't sure how much time passed while kissing him; she had kissed people before, but this was different. When she kissed Cameron, she wasn't thinking of the position of the moon above her or how the sky was getting brighter and brighter. Passage of time was always unknown to her, but with Cameron's lips on hers and his arms wrapped tenderly around her body, she didn't see it as a problem.

**Author's Note:**

> This was 3k more than I ever expected, but after an entire week of "working" on this fic, here we are.  
> Special thanks to Rhea (residual-emotion.tumblr.com) for being my beta and putting up with my lazy ass <3
> 
> Follow me on tumblr and cry about Camsten with me! youtoogirlfriend.tumblr.com


End file.
